The Iron Nest didn't just feel like a villa anymore; it felt like a sanctuary built of silicon and steel. From my command center on the top floor, the hum of the cooling fans sounded like the steady, rhythmic breathing of a beast waiting to be fed. I sat in the darkness, the only light provided by a wall of monitors displaying the perimeter in haunting shades of infrared.
I leaned back in my leather chair, my eyes tracking Screen 4. Chloe was in the playroom. She looked like a goddess of war silhouetted against the soft pastel wallpaper of Leo's nursery. She was the light that had bridged the gap between my blood-stained past and a future I never dared to dream of.
